Ghost

Enjoy guys

17. Riddick.

It was the ache in my chest that told me that last night had been real. The deep scratches that Jack had inflicted when she had woken up in the grip of a nightmare throbbed in the pale morning light. But that slight pain dimmed in the realization that she had spoken openly and honestly with my darker side, and that the lingering scent of her fear had finally faded as he held her in our arms.

She was still asleep in the early hours of this new morning. Laying beside me on her stomach, her hair spilling across the pillow and my shoulder as I lay on my side. The front panel of her robe was twisted under the two of us, leaving her half naked as she breathed slowly. I ignored the uncomfortable feeling in my gut at the sight of so much skin, and just watched her.

It’s been five years since I slept beside her last, but time hasn’t changed how she looks while sleeping. So innocent and beguiling. The smudge like stain of her lashes against her cheeks. The way her mouth pillows into a pout, letting out a little puff of air as she shifted. Five years ago I had often woken up to hair as soft as an animal pelt under my nose, and I would spend a few moments lightly touching her head as she curled into my side.

Her hair was longer now, spilling down her back as I smoothed my hand over it. Felt bare skin under my hand, and lingered there. I had felt the press of soft skin against me last night, I know that now. Felt the skin of her chest and stomach pressed against my own, when the animal had woken her from a dream of being raped and had pinned her to stop her fight or flight mechanism.

In the quiet dawn light I was able to think about that a little more. The Quasi Dead had changed us while we were with them on the Threshold. Just looking down at Jack proved that. Her skin seemed to glow with an internal light; it was warm and pulsed slightly under my hand. But last night it had been dark and violent, and when the animal touched her, we had seen her dream like it was happening on our own internal tele-screen.

He’d scented fear on her, and wondered why. Had laid a hand on her shoulder and had been sucked straight to hell. Jack’s own private hell. A dream. A memory. Of being shoved face down over a table, and a tearing, ripping pain that had been so sharp, so over whelming, that the animal had shaken her to wake her. And she’d come up fighting.

Her glow was warm now, and I watched it play across her skin and my hand. Small lights that danced and flirted with the contrast in our skin tones, and as I stared at them, I was guided deeper into Jack. Into her mind and her dream, and I closed my eyes as the animal had done, and was shown a slice of Jack’s dream - Jack‘s past.

Sensation came first…. A warm fire, making it difficult to keep my eyes open. A steady heartbeat echoing in my head. The soft cushion of a woman’s breasts under my cheek. The gentle stroke of a hand down over long hair. A voice singing softly of love and fairies, in a lilting accent that spoke of old world Ireland, and rolling green hills.

The song came to an end, and I opened my eyes. Looked up into a face so much like Jack’s that it was jolting. A mother’s love glowing on her face, as she smoothed her hand across my forehead. The scent of a country garden, and that same lilt of old world Ireland spoke softly in the flickering light.

“You have your Daddy’s eyes, Jackie. So clear and green. They see so much. Know so much. They made me wonder if he was the prince of all fey when I first met him. Aye, he would have loved you, darling girl. You would have been the apple of his eye. The jewel of his life.”

I felt tired, and as I stared up at this woman, my vision turned glassy for a moment, and then I was the woman, and it was Jack laying in my arms as a child. So much younger than she had been when I met her. More innocent. More like the fey her mother spoke of. I watched as my hand rose. Laid a cool palm against her forehead, and felt the vicious slap of heat. Heard her pained whimper, and gathered her close.

“Hush my little girl. My beautiful fey girl, who will bewitch the minds and hearts of men when she is older. Let Mama rock you a while, and see if the magic of home has left my blood as yet.”

“I feel so sick, Mama.”

“I know, my love. Close your eyes, and listen to a story about the songs of the sea and the people who live under them. Princes and warriors with eyes the colour of sapphires, and the green of Ireland in their hearts. Men who love and defend and hold diamonds in their palms, while they wait to spill them at a maiden’s feet.”

“Fey, Mama?”

A small smile stretched across my face as Jack’s eyes slid shut. As her lashes fanned across cheeks flushed with heat, and that satiny mouth pillowed into a pout.

“No, my love. Men from the stars.”

I turned my gaze towards the fire as I rocked her, and saw a young man in the flames. Saw him standing at the edge of an ocean with his arms crossed, while diamonds sparkled at his feet. And when he suddenly turned his face towards me, I saw the flash of bright blue eyes, and saw Kain staring back at me...

I jerked away from Jack, as if she had turned into a living flame in my arms and burned me. What the fuck had that been about? Had her mother really seen Kain in the fire, or was it just a dream? But in the two times I had seen into Kain, I had heard the roar of an ocean. Had all but tasted the salt in the air. Had heard the song of the life in the water, and heard them not as noise, but as messages.

Even as I rubbed my hand over my head in frustration, I saw the change in Jack. Saw her tense slightly as she hovered between being awake and remaining asleep. And as her lashes fluttered against her cheeks, I continued to watch her. Watch as her eyes opened. Saw the sleepy smile that crossed her face, even as her walls started to shimmer, and she became aware of where she was. Aware of who was watching her.

“Riddick?”

The animal purred and I bit back a curse when the sleepy sound of her voice slammed me in the gut, and I grunted in response. I all but felt the animal roll its eyes, and bit back another curse when those walls immediately became solid. Laying side-by-side, but with miles still between us, and I felt the flinch she tried to hide when I reached out and touched her shoulder.

“How’d you sleep?” I muttered, and a frown flickered across her face.

“Ok…” she said slowly, and I remembered what the animal had said last night. No more secrets.

“I know he spoke with you last night, Jack. I was aware of what you spoke about.”

Her cheeks turned pink, and she nodded as her eyes drifted from mine to stare past me.

“Did he scare you? Hurt you in any way?” I muttered, and her gaze snapped back to mine as she frowned.

“No. Why would he?”

It was my turn to frown, and Jack rolled over and sat up with her back towards me. The material spilled down her back a moment later, and when she stood up and turned back to face me, I could see the temper in her eyes.

“I’m not made of fuckin’ glass, Riddick, and he didn’t treat me like I was. I know you’ve got that other side to you - you’ve always had it. It never bothered me when I was a kid. Why should it bother me now?”

She didn’t wait for my answer; she simply walked out of the bedroom and into the sitting room. I heard Kain’s soft murmur as the door slid shut behind her, and rubbed my hand over my head again. I’m glad she didn’t wait for my answer in a way - how was I meant to tell her what I wanted and what the animal wanted were two very different things?

When I left the bedroom and went to the sitting room myself, I saw Jack standing in front of the window and staring out across New Mecca. Kain stood behind her, his hands pressed against the wall either side of her as they spoke quietly. I heard the door slide open, and Vaako nodded to me as he entered.

When I looked back to Jack and Kain, it was in time to see Kain lower his head and press a soft kiss to her neck. He lingered there for a moment, before Jack turned around and leaned into him as he wrapped his arms around her. I could barely see Jack while they were standing like this, but I saw her arms rise to circle his waist as he lowered is head to her shoulder.

They only broke apart from one another when Link spoke sleepily from the couch, and I realized that Kain and Link had slept in here all night. Even though they had rooms next door prepared for them, they had chosen to stay in my quarters. Mine and Jack’s. I watched as she rested her head against Kain’s shoulder, his hand lazily running up and down her side as he held her.

“You have a full schedule today, Riddick, including choosing your advisers and making a public appearance at dinner tomorrow night. Jack? You’ll need to be at Riddick’s side for dinner too. Other than that, your time is your own. Is there anything you need?” Vaako asked, and Jack nodded.

“Clothes for starters” she said, and Vaako nodded as Jack glanced back up at Kain.

“Can we leave the ship?” she asked a moment later, and Vaako looked towards me.

“Why?” I asked, and Jack shrugged slightly.

“We need to see Dog and Maniac, Riddick. Gather what we can from Kain’s old haunts. Stuff like that.”

I glanced at Vaako, and when he shook his head slightly, I shook my own.

“I’d rather you waited until either me or Vaako are free, Jack, and we’ll take you where you need to go,” I said quietly, and even though her temper immediately leapt into her eyes, she remained silent.

“I took the liberty of ordering up some food,” Vaako said quickly and I nodded as I moved towards the couches.

Jack turned back towards the window as Kain stepped away from her. A knock sounded on the door a moment later, and I watched as an attendant served us up some food and drinks. Within half an hour of waking up I was out the door, and in that time, Jack remained silent and angry.

********************


I spent several frustrating hours being told how to run things. How to act and dress and go to war. And when I finally spoke up and told the men who had been speaking that things were going to change, I then had to spend the next several hours listening to them bitch and whinge about it.

Toal and Vaako both kept silent as these prissily dressed men talked at me over one another, and I finally got sick of it and told the lot of them to fuck off. Silence. I asked Vaako and Toal what their opinions were, and was told straight. I was the Lord Marshal and they would follow me to the end. My wish was their doing, and their loyalty was mine alone. Fucking cake.

And while all this shit was going on around me, I was thinking about Jack. Wondered what she was doing, while I was stuck here listening to these grown men act like children. Wondered if she was still pissed at me. Wondered what the animal would try to teach her that I couldn’t, and promptly slammed down on that thought when an image of what the Quasi Dead had shown us flickered behind my eyes.

And while I was thinking that, the animal itself was making me remember how it had felt to have her under us last night. How it had felt to hold her so closely, and feel her slip away into sleep so easily while in our arms. How she had smelled. How soft her skin was. And the more I tried not to think about that, the more he thought about it. The voices echoing around me stopped abruptly when I stood up. Vaako and Toal rose to their feet and waited silently, as the remaining advisors gaped at me.

“I’ve had enough of this shit. I don’t need men who wear dresses to tell me how to lead an army to the Underverse. I have two Commanders to do that, so the rest of you can just fuck off and bitch else where.”

I heard Vaako clear his throat twice, and chanced a look at him as I turned to leave. His face was as blank as always, but his eyes were sparkling with humour, and when our eyes met, his mouth twitched. I smirked at him, and he looked away quickly. It made me grin myself, to know that he had a sense of humour after all.

Toal led me to a side room, and bought up a view of my rooms when I told him I wanted to check on Jack. I just needed to make sure she was still there - that, she was ok. And when the screen flickered once and then showed me the rooms, I could only blink.

Kain was sitting on the couch in nothing but cargo pants. Link sat in front of the couch in a similar state of dress, his eyes shut as he and Jack held hands. And Jack? She had her head in Kain’s lap. Her eyes were closed and Kain was toying with her hair absently as he snickered. A normal sight, except for the fact that she was wearing nothing but underwear.

It took me a moment to register what they were talking about as Jack crossed her legs at the ankles and shifted slightly as Link turned his head and kissed the inside of her wrist when Kain started laughing again. And when Jack slapped the back of her hand against the skin of his stomach, he laughed even harder.

“It’s not funny, Kain!”

Kain just shook his head and laughed, while Link tilted his head, so he could see Jack.

“Yeah, darlin’, it was. ‘Specially when you… what was it called in the old days? Swooned? But when you told her to fuck off after she demanded that you wear it for…” Link coughed to cover up his snicker, and finished speaking. “…Your Lord and Master? The look on your face? Now that was funny.”

Jack opened her eyes and glared at him, even as Link wiggled his eyebrows at her.

“You fuckin’ wear it then, Link! A corset, man! Hello! It ain’t like we’re in the old Victorian period here, and need to be suckin’ our waists in and pushin’ the hush puppies sky high! I could barely breathe! And what does she expect? That I’ll be sittin’ at his feet in a collar and chain like some obedient little dog? I don’t fuckin’ think so!”

Kain snickered again, and Jack sat up and turned to face him as she knelt up.

“Nasty, Kain, that’s what their dress code is - it’s fuckin’ nasty. And the dress they want me to wear to dinner?”

Kain bit his lip, but his laughter still bubbled free when Jack looked at him.

“Ice cream sundae, Jack?” he asked, and Jack snorted.

“More like a long line of sex, Kain. Shit, do I really have to wear it?”

“I dunno, Jack. I liked the dress, but when those spike things came out? That’s when I freaked. Did she really think we were gonna sit by and let her pierce your spine wit’ ’em?”

I glared at Vaako who balked, and shook his head.

“Spine enhancement,” he muttered when I continued to glare at him. “But she’s not converted, so it would be pain, rather than pleasure. The whole Necropolis is going to realize she’s not converted by dinner.”

"Ain't that the fuckin' point?" I hissed, and he nodded as he lowered his eyes.

I turned my attention back to the screen, just as Jack stood up and stretched.

“The look on her face when you guys refused to leave the room, Kain? Now that was funny,” Jack said and Kain snorted as Jack walked towards our rooms.

When she came back out, she was wearing ripped to the shit cargo pants, and was in the process of tugging material down her ribs - a tube of material that circled her but had no sleeves or straps, and that stayed up sheer will alone. It made the animal purr and imagine peeling it off her, leaving my jaw clenching in time with my gut. Kain, apparently, agreed.

“Damn, Jack, you wantin’ to start a fight for that sundae or what?” he asked, causing Jack to throw her head back and let out a peal of laughter so bright I could almost taste it.

“Please, Kain, you’ve seen me in less than this!” she said, causing Link to stutter and Kain to snicker.

“Ain’t that the truth, but even so, baby girl, you might wanna remember where we are - and who we’re with.”

Jack snorted, but even as she went to speak, Aereon entered the room without knocking; just floated straight through the wall as if she owned the place. She glanced at Jack, and then she lost all colour; I mean she went transparent. Her lips parted, and a hand fluttered to her throat.

But her eyes weren’t focused on Jack - they were focused on Kain. And when he looked up and saw her, the anger he had directed towards me on Crematoria paled in the utter fury and hatred that came off him in waves once he caught sight of her. Even Jack paled, and she took a few steps towards Kain as he continued to stare at Aereon.

“Kaniece,” Aereon said faintly, and Kain snarled.

“Still floating around are you, bitch?” he hissed and stood up slowly, his body one long line of coiled tension.

Aereon became transparent, her clothing floating on an invisible breeze as she stuttered.

“Your… your father…”

Kain took a step towards her, and Jack stepped in front of him and pressed her hand against his chest.

“Do not speak to me of my father! Do the Necromongers know who you really are, Aereon? Or are you still usin’ the excuse that you’re an envoy?” he hissed, and Aereon’s eyes hardened.

“You are still as insolent as a man, Kaniece, as you were a child,” she spat, and then backed up quickly as Kain pushed past Jack.

“A child, Aereon? I don’t ever remember bein’ one. It was trainin’ and tactile movement; preparation from the moment I was born, and you stood back and used my people to further the advancement of your own. Tell me - are you still wanted for treason on my world as well as your own?”

Aereon’s eyes narrowed, and she drifted slightly around the room as Kain vibrated with anger.

“You never could see the bigger picture, Kaniece,” she said finally, and Kain snorted.

“The bigger picture? No, I couldn’t, because I didn’t believe the bullshit you were spinnin’. And when the truth finally emerged, Aereon, it was too late, wasn‘t it? You slipped away, while blood was shed on both sides. And seven years later, here you are, lookin’ as pretty as a bottle of arsenic. Tell me, Aereon - does Riddick know the part you played yet?”

“You wouldn’t dare bring that to light, Kaniece! Not with the war…”

Kain snickered softly, and Aereon stopped talking as she stared at him. After a tense moment, Aereon sniffed, but clasped her hands in front of her as she slowly drifted towards the wall.

“They do not know how to deal with an elemental, Kaniece, so your threat is both empty and child…”

“They might not know, Aereon, but I do,” he said quietly and Aereon froze where she was.

She turned to face him slowly as Kain lifted his chin.

“There are laws that govern our worlds, Kaniece. You wouldn’t dare.”

“Don’t tell me what I would and wouldn’t do, old woman. I have no problem with rainin’ down chaos right now,” Kain hissed and Aereon balked as he walked towards her. She became transparent again, and Kain laughed coldly.

“You always did think you were invincible, Aereon. A powerful being who could deflect harm by becomin’ the wind. Seems to be more an act of cowardliness than power.”

Aereon shook her head and floated closer to the wall as Kain followed her slowly.

“It was a mistake in the past, Kaniece - let it go,” she demanded softly, and Kain froze.

“A mistake? Which time, Aereon? Was it a mistake when you had Imam sell Jack like she was nothin' but cattle? Was it a mistake when you put the payday on our heads, to bring about peace? Or was it a mistake when you killed Mai?”

Aereon shook her head rapidly, but I’d heard enough. I turned and left the room, and made my way towards my quarters at a dead run. Necros were gathering outside the room, from where I could hear the muffled sounds of shouting. And when the door opened, the words that I heard set my blood boiling.

“…And I knew if she was sent to Crematoria, you wouldn’t leave her! I’d have time to gather the intelligence that I needed to get Riddick here! Everything I’ve done has been to stop these Necromongers, Kaniece!”

“Bullshit! Stop fuckin’ lyin’ to me, Aereon! All we ever were to you was a way to become more powerful. You cared nothing for us, or the people you’ve hurt. All Mai and I ever were to you, was a fuckin’ experiment! Would you have given her to him?”

I stepped into the room silently and saw that Aereon had bowed her head, while Kain was standing with his fists clenched. Aereon looked up when I made myself known and a look of fear crossed her face.

“Answer the fuckin’ question,” I hissed, and she looked at Kain and raised her chin slightly.

“Yes.”

Kain snarled and Jack stepped in front of him again. He stayed where he was as he glared at Aereon, and when he spoke, his voice had turned frigid with anger.

“Which calculation added up so that you’d come out on top, Aereon? Coz from where I‘m standin’? You came out on top every time, while the rest of us were sacrificed so you’d have the steppin’ stones to get there.”

Aereon looked up and spoke calmly.

“Everything I did was to give us a fighting chance, Kaniece.”

Kain laughed softly.

“No it wasn’t. It was to make your theories true. To make a powerful race of people. And you would have been in the ear of who ever ruled that land, filling their heads with your poison. Born in a lower position, and manipulating your way to the top - that’s all you ever did, Aereon.”

“Kaniece…”

“I swore to you, Aereon, that when your time came, it would be me that ended you.”

Aereon melted into mist, and Kain laughed bitterly.

“But at the end of the day, Aereon? You ain't worth it. I’d rather let my people deal with you.”

He turned away and headed towards me, even as Aereon called his name. But when I remained in the doorway blocking his way, Kain shook his head and lowered his eyes as Jack came up to stand by his side. It was her who looked up at me, and a look of disappointment entered her eyes when I refused to step aside so they could leave the room.

“You wanted us to trust you, Riddick, but you won’t trust us in return.”

It was said softly, and I reached out to grasp her chin in my hand as she continued to glare up at me. I saw the confusion in her eyes when I lowered my head and pressed my lips to the corner of her mouth, and then glanced at Kain.

“You’ll keep her safe.”

It wasn’t a question, but he nodded anyway as Jack slid her hand into his. Link came up behind them, and I nodded to him as I stepped further into the rooms. Kain slid by me without a word, but Jack glanced up at me as she followed him. Let her eyes slide across my face, and when they lingered monetarily on my mouth, the animal in me reached for her. But I let her go, and with a single look at Vaako, he turned and started to follow them silently with Toal.

I shut the doors behind me as Aereon cowered near the wall, and crossed the room to sit on the couch. The silence remained in the rooms until I finally looked up at her. Called for the lights to dim and removed my goggles. And for the first time since I had me her, she faltered.

“I think it’s high time you told me what the fuck is goin’ on - and Aereon? If I even think you’re lyin‘? I’ll let the Quasi Dead interrogate you, and then I‘m gonna let the Necros kill your home world.”

I ignored her spluttering and high handed words and sat back and simply looked at her. When she saw that I wasn’t going to change my mind, she told me more than I wanted to know. And the more I learned, the angrier I got: when the animal simply stretched and walked out of the cage, for the first time since UV six, I let it take me over. And it felt damn good. Time to raise some hell.